Sunday October 16, 2016

AIR FORCE Tourist Arrivals Up 13% In September

The number of foreign tourists taking a break in Lanzarote soared again last month by nearly 13%. Whilst domestic demand continues to rise, as arrivals from the Spanish mainland grew by 9.25% during the course of December.

A total of 197,762 foreign tourists touched down at Arrecife airport last month, according to the latest data just released by ISTAC, the Canarian Institute of Statistics, representing a 12.98% increase on September 2015 figures.

The UK accounted for well over 50% of these arrivals, with 117,143 passengers, followed by German and Irish visitors, who accounted for 25,103 and 22,618 holidaymakers respectively. Overall, foreign tourist arrivals have now grown by 5.69% year on year.

France is now well established as Lanzarote´s fourth largest source of tourists, with over 90,000 arrivals for the year to date, whilst Spanish domestic tourism enjoys a continued renaissance with 362,729 passengers landing at Arrecife during the first nine months of 2016, a year on year increase of 5.69%.

Could anything spoil the currently sunny outlook for the island´s tourist industry?

There are concerns in some sectors that the weakened pound may start to impact negatively on arrivals from the UK, however sterling fell more sharply during 2014 with little noticeable impact on arrivals from Lanzarote´s largest market.

Perhaps more worrying in the long term is the threat of rising prices in the UK, which could erode current levels of disposable income. However, Lanzarote remains accessible to many, thanks to low cost flights and accommodation, whilst the number of other ´safe´ holiday options within a four to six hour radius of the UK has also fallen sharply in recent years, especially for those in search of winter sun.